geratology (n.)

“物种衰落的研究”等，1876年，源自希腊语 gēras（属格 gēratos）“老年”（参见 geriatric）和 -logy。相关词汇： Geratologic。

I have adopted this new term with considerable hesitation and doubt, and have only done so under the pressure of necessity. In no other way can I better convey my conviction that there is a traceable correspondence between all manifestations of decline in the individual and in the group to which the individual belongs, which may, like embryology, be used inductively in reasoning upon the probable affinities of animals. [A. Hyatt, paper on "Genetic Relations of Stephanoceras," read June 7, 1876, published in Proceedings of the Boston Society of Natural History, vol. xviii, 1877]

我在极度犹豫和怀疑中采用了这个新术语，只是在必要的压力下才这样做。通过这种方式，我可以更好地表达我的信念，即个体和个体所属的群体中所有衰退表现之间存在可追溯的对应关系，这种关系可以像胚胎学一样归纳地用于推理动物的可能亲缘关系。[A. Hyatt，“Stephanoceras 的遗传关系”论文，1876年6月7日读，发表于《波士顿自然历史学会议事录》第18卷，1877年]